500 Days of Summer: A Movie For the Brokenhearted

Ashtyn Britt
Writer
abritt@lc.edu

If any of you have ever been through a heartbreak, then you already know how much they hurt. It feels like the world has crashed, and you never want to see another sappy cliche in your life. To you heartbroken people, I can’t beg enough of you to watch this movie.

Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, this movie tells the story of Tom Hansen and Summer. However, like the narrator at the beginning warns the audience, this is not a love story. If you wish to watch the movie, it is available for rent on most media streaming services. Warning! The rest of this article will contain major spoilers.

This story shows out-of-order scenes through the five hundred days of Tom and Summer’s messy relationship and eventual end. We see things from Tom’s perspective since he is the hopeless romantic who has fallen in deep love with Summer. However, she doesn’t believe in love, and while this creates an interesting dynamic for the beginning of their relationship, much like in real life, this doesn’t prevent the inevitable crash and burn. This is an honest story of love lost, and how a hopeless romantic can turn into a bitter cynic.

However, at the end, when Tom decides to finally move on with his life and stop looking for love, he meets a pretty young woman named Autumn. After Summer comes Autumn, just like someone will come along after this heartbreak you’ve had. Only when we have our breakup stories can we eventually find our love story, and this movie is the perfect “One-before-the-One” story that makes me feel good after every breakup I’ve ever had.

The performance and dialogue are very real and relatable, and I recommend it for everyone to watch. Whoever hurt you, you will move on, and you will find your person.